


The Burning Heart Of Ice ((Jake X Reader One Shot))

by Anuyushi



Category: Alchemist Code
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-28
Updated: 2019-08-28
Packaged: 2020-09-28 07:03:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,669
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20421896
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Anuyushi/pseuds/Anuyushi
Summary: I've been friends with Jake for a long time, since we were five, but I didn't understand my feelings until recently. There's only one problem; He loves another.♚[© 2018 | @Anuyushi]♛





	The Burning Heart Of Ice ((Jake X Reader One Shot))

A warmth I couldn't explain surrounded my whole body. A weight pushed down on my shoulders, and it became harder and harder to breathe.   
The warmth kept growing until it was only a boiling heat. I wanted to scream out but something kept me grounded, something stopped me from screaming right there. I could only see the darkness, and as I raised my hand, I swallowed and clenched my fist. In an instant, the heat vanished and I exhaled. My feet felt like they would fall out from under me and I had to collapse, once again catching my breath.   
At first, it was fear, but my anger pushed it all away. "D-Dammit!" I dug my fingers into the grass below me, overturning the dirt.   
How many times has this happened? How many times has the fire swallowed my soul?   
More times than I could count. I slowly glanced over to my staff, still steaming at the end. I felt a soft touch on my shoulder and looked back t my closest friend. He seemed to force a smile, but his tired eyes revealed his lack of energy for the situation. "You'll... Get it next time. Okay? Magic takes practice." His golden bangs seemed to shine under the sun, but most of his body was hidden beneath the cloak of a mage.   
I only felt even more angry and looked away from his eyes. "You don't get to say that when you're already so good at it. Maybe magic just isn't my thing. I always end up burning myself."  
He let out a gentle laugh and kneeled beside me, tilting his head playfully. "It took practice. Let's go inside now and take a break."   
I gave a reluctant nod and pulled myself to my feet, quickly picking up my staff. He used his winged staff to assist back to his feet and slowly moved towards the door to his small home. I followed after, watching my friend's back. My anger was already starting to evaporate in joy. My friend... His name was Jake, a fire mage I've known since I was a child. He had always been a little introverted and quiet but he always lets himself relax when I'm there. Despite us being friends for so long, I feel like I'm only in his shadow as he practices and gets stronger with his own fire magic. That's what made me want to try it too but I can't even cast one spell without failing like I just did.  
What was his secret? How did he do it? I closed the door behind me and smelled the soft incense of tea immediately. Jake vanished into the back room and I decided to wait in the main room. It was a small but comfy house for one boy to live alone. Vases of flowers sat around the room, all appeared well-taken care off. On the wooden table was a vase with a single rose. I slowly approached the scarlet flower and reached out to touch the soft petals. For someone who didn't like to leave his house, Jake took good care of all his plants. For there to be a single rose, I could only assume this to be for Ange soon. She was one of his other friends, but I and her weren't as close. Sure, she was a sweet and happy girl, but my heart always hurt when he got her another flower. I didn't understand why it always hurt me though.   
Jake told me once that he wanted to make her his bride one day, but he could never bring himself to confess so he got her gifts like this and sparkling accessories.  
After a moment of feeling the rose, I stood back up and took a seat on his couch. The quaint home had only a fireplace, table, and couch in the living room. I had been in the back room plenty of times but it wasn't all that interesting. There was a kitchen and a single bedroom while the outhouse was out back.   
It took a couple minutes but when Jake returned, he held two cups in his hand, both steaming and smelling sweet. I gave him a smile and scoot over for him to sit down and set the cups down. "I put the kettle on w-while you were training. Sorry, I should have asked if you wanted any first." He looked to his lap, almost looking sad. I picked up a cup and smelled carefully, recognizing it as green tea. "No, it's great. Thank you." I took a sip and put it back down. "Okay, I have to ask. How did you get so good already? And quit saying 'practice', because I've been practicing for a few years and haven't made nearly the same progress."  
There was a long pause from him, then Jake moved his hand in front of his face. Inhaling slowly, when he blew out forcefully, a thick flame suddenly came out in place of air like he was a dragon. It lasted merely a moment because he interrupted himself by letting out a quiet laugh. "I'm telling you, I just trained." He sighed out and looked away. The way Jake's shoulders slumped like he was sad was hard to watch. I let myself reach out and place my hand on his, giving a soft squeeze. No words were exchanged but the room felt calming. He was an amazing mage, specializing in both fire and ice spells and what could I do? Burn myself. How could I ever be a good fighter like that?   
After a long, comforting silence, I felt sleepy and closed my eyes, letting myself use his shoulder as a pillow. It wasn't uncommon for me to do that, so I didn't think anything of it.  
While I let myself sleep, I thought back to when we first met. It was so long ago, the memory was hazy but I remembered quite well.   
Our parents had introduced us when we were younger than five. I had been excited about the visit after hearing all the cool things about him but Jake was more... Silent.   
He had been hiding behind his mother's legs while they spoke and shivered like a maraca. Even when he was little, he was shy and quiet. I wanted to do more outdoor activities like hit a stick into a tree or look for bugs but I kept being dragged into more calm things like coloring or cooking. He never wanted to go outside much.   
Despite that, we became friends fast. When he met Ange not long after, they started to spend more and more time together, I couldn't help that jealous feeling. I tried to stay out of their way and only came over when she wasn't around. I don't know how long we've been like that but honestly, it was a bit exhausting.   
"Hey... Jake?" I muttered out, nuzzling into his shoulder more. He let out a questioning hum. "You.. Know about the blue knights right?"  
"Yes. Dias and Logi. What of them?"  
"One day, I want to be a knight and protect you just like they do."  
There was a pause, and he released a sigh. After that, I felt the darkness of sleep overtake me.  
When I woke up, I was lying down. I cracked open my eyes and was met with darkness instead of the sun peeking through the window. I could feel I was lying on something soft, and felt relaxed, believing he gave me a pillow while I was out. Exhaling, I wrapped my arms around it and nuzzled my cheek into the fabric. I squeezed tighter and suddenly realized something. As I opened my eyes more and adjusted to the darkness, I was looking into someone's face. Jake's face, to be more exact. He was sleeping, his soft features looked so calm, but I quickly scrambled off. As I did, his eyes opened, and he let out a small yawn. "You're awake? I'm sorry... I guess I fell asleep too."  
I wanted to get angry at waking up like that, but I couldn't stop my heart from racing. I knew what it was, but could I really be sure about it? Could I really love my childhood friend? These feelings have been around for so long but it wasn't until I was close to him like this that I realized... I really do. As Jake began to pull himself to a sit, I quickly wrapped my arms around him. "W-What are you doing?" He stuttered but didn't struggle away like I expected he would. "I'm sorry too..." I breathed out. "All these years, you've been right in front of me and I just-" I quickly stopped myself before I confessed. He loved Ange, I knew that I couldn't conflict him like that. I could feel his body tense up, and Jake slowly pushed me off, unable to meet my eyes. I could see his cheeks darken and he quickly dropped his head to his lap. "Don't... Say things like that." His voice whispered. "I'm sorry." I lowered my head as well. I almost confessed my feelings but he was probably smart enough to know what I wanted to say. The silence became awkward and after a long while, Jake lifted his hand up and in a soft motion, a small snowflake flurry sprinkled down only his palm. The shine was enough to dim a small area around us but it wasn't doing much else, despite being pretty.   
"I'm a mage but... I'm not as powerful ask you think. I don't like to fight." His eyes softened. "Besides... isn't this much nicer? Look closely at it... Okay?"  
I gave him a nod and moved my face closer to the snowflakes but no matter how much I looked, I couldn't see anything. Jake suddenly pulled his hand back and before I realized what was happening, my lips were pressed against my childhood friends. The snowflakes vanished and I felt my shirt being gripped. He seemed a little scared, shaking. It was so gentle though like he was afraid of hurting me. I tried to relax, accepting the gesture, and pulled him closer. I don't know how long it lasted, but when he parted, Jake was breathing heavily, and it took him a minute to catch his breath. I wasn't sure how red my face was, but that had been my first kiss... and I was happy it was with him. "But why?" I had to ask aloud. "You... You love Ange, don't you? Why?"

"I... I don't know... I'm sorry!" Jake suddenly bowed his head. "I didn't even ask a-and I tricked you and-"

I laughed quietly to myself and reached out to cup his cheek and meet his eyes again. "It's okay. For so long, I had feelings for you but I didn't know what they were. But sleeping beside you and having you in my arms, I finally realized. May I..." I looked to the side, unable to meet his gaze. "May I kiss you?"

The mage let out a soft squeak and nodded shyly. I took a deep breath and closed my eyes. As space closed between us once more, I felt my heart swell up. All of out laughter, all of our tears and playful screams and the pain we shared together, all of those emotions began to pour out. My whole body felt hot, but my lips felt ice cold. A shining light suddenly made me pull back and I could see streaks of fire surrounding me. The flames danced and spun, and at the ends, as it went closer to Jake, there was only a blue freeze, glittering snow around his body. His eyes went wide and we could only watch the beauty of fire and ice. When our eyes met, we both lowered our heads to our chests, finding the source being... Us. Our hearts. The light lit up the entire room and when it was over, the fire and ice simply fizzled away, leaving us in darkness. "What...?" I started but couldn't muster any more words.

"That's it, I think I understand your problem." Jake began. "You were working but didn't put any emotion into your magic." His voice was almost a whisper as he breathed it out. I reached to the ground and picked up my staff that I had set lying there and closed my eyes. I let Jake enter my thoughts and tried to focus on the heat. If he was right, I couldn't possibly separate from him. My body slowly heat up more and more, and once again, a weight pushed down on my shoulders. I kept thinking of him, I wanted to reach out and take his hand but I couldn't move. Then without warning, the heat started to die down and when I opened my eyes, a fireball had formed at the top of my staff. My heart nearly skipped a beat in excitement but I let it die away, deciding not to shoot a fireball in Jake's house. When it was gone, I looked back to him. I couldn't even find the words to describe my joy and after a moment, I just wrapped him in a hug. "Thank you..." closed my eyes. Jake tensed up, then hugged me back. "I... I love you. I'm sorry I didn't realize it sooner."

I smiled to myself. I wanted to tell him he didn't need to apologize but before I could even speak a word, I felt tears start to swell in my eyes. The happy moment didn't last long though when I remembered my mom was waiting for me to come home.

"What do you think?" I kneeled beside a flower and looked back to Jake. His eyes were lost in the sky, but he was blocking out the sun with his hood. "It's too bright." He frowned. I chuckled, looking back to the flower. "I wasn't asking that but thanks for the input. I'm talking about this." I nodded to the plant. "Would Ange like this?"

He blinked and lowered his head. "I... I suppose so." Giving his unhelpful words, I dug up the flower, doing my best to keep the roots together and pulled myself back to my feet. Jake tilt his head, dark bags clear under his eyes. I did feel a little bad about waking him up, but if I left him to sleep, he probably would have slept through the day. He was never really a morning person and neither was I, but I remembered Ange was coming over today at least. I was an adult now, and finally old enough to marry Jake, so we jumped at the chance and started making preparations but today was a day to relax from all the planning and just enjoy the company of old friends.

Jake spot something on the ground just then and kneeled over to pick it up. He twirled a small dandelion in his fingers before inhaling and blowing the seeds into the soft wind. "You're gonna grow weeds." I pointed out but he only smiled. "I think an empty dandelion is beautiful. It was something that once held the keys to a new life for its kind... And now it can be remembered as another creator before it dies. Just like..."

"What are you talking about?" I tilt my head in wonder. His cheeks went pink and he looked away quickly. "N-Nothing. I was just thinking aloud." He reached down again to pick another flower. When Jake moved closer, I stood still and let him set the flower in my hair. "There." He took a step back to admire his work. "It looks good on you..."

I gave him a bright smile and handed him the flower for Ange. "Let's go back inside now. You look like the heat is going to kill you, little vampire." I offered a playful nudge and moved back towards the house.


End file.
